Get organized in 20 minutes

View Photo Gallery —  Bethesda-based professional organizer Rachel Strisik spends her days helping folks around the region get their lives in order. Here, she offers a peek inside her own home and shares some of her favorite organizing products.

By Terri Sapienza, Published: January 25

Whether your home is 700 square feet or 7,000, having organized spaces will make your life easier and less stressful, says professional organizer Rachel Strisik, who is based in Bethesda. Here, she offers three household projects that should each take about 20 minutes to accomplish.

If you’ve been ignoring the need to get your home in order, this is an easy way to get yourself motivated. Setting aside time this weekend to tackle one of these projects will not only leave you feeling a little more organized come Monday morning, it might even give you incentive to keep going.

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Heritage trails mark the path to preserving D.C. history

View Photo Gallery —  As H Street NE gentrifies, neighborhood natives are working with historians to uncover and restore the corridor’s history.

Others contain largely unknown D.C. tidbits: Who knew that go-go king Chuck Brown was a shoeshine boy outside the Howard Theatre as a child? (That story is on the Georgia Avenue/Pleasant Plains Heritage Trail) Or that deaf football players at Gallaudet University invented the American football huddle, so they could conceal their signs from opponents. (Photos of that first huddle are on the Greater H Street NE Heritage Trail).
Bennett says tracing the neighborhood’s history also brought her family together. As part of the research for the upcoming LeDroit Park/Bloomingdale trail, her cousins got together over breakfast to research the story of two priests in the family. One was Father Leslie Branch, the first African American Catholic chaplain in the U.S. Navy.

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A lesson on real estate deductions

Daniel Acker/BLOOMBERG - U.S. Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service 1040 Individual Income Tax forms for the 2010 tax year are arranged for a photograph in Tiskilwa, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, March 23, 2011.

By Benny L. Kass, Published: January 27

“People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women.”
— Unknown

Selling your home (including condo or co-op) in today’s market is not easy, but when you are successful, you may be pleasantly surprised by the favorable tax laws.
In general, if you are married and meet two legal tests, you can exclude up to $500,000 of the profit you have made. If you are not married or file a separate tax return, the exclusion is reduced to $250,000.

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Posted at 04:47 AM ET, 01/30/2012

Renovating an old D.C. home? Know this first

By Pat Kennedy

Special to The Washington Post

Pat Kennedy’s home in the Crestwood neighborhood of the District. These rowhomes were built in 1915 and some are still in need of repairs and upgrades. (Pat Kennedy)
Historic old houses are notorious flirts, and in many District neighborhoods, homes dating back to the turn of the last century are the norm.  You walk in and they grab you with beautiful old woodwork and light fixtures.  Oh, and the claw foot tub will seduce you every time.  But before you say “I do” to one of these charmers, remember that renovating an old house can be daunting.

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The Art of House Hunting

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Eight tips to help in your search

By Michele Dawson

Armed with your down payment and your pre-approval letter for a mortgage loan, the next step is finding the house that will best meet your family's needs. With realistic expectations, patience and plenty of research, you'll be well on your way.

Once you narrow the search to neighborhoods you like, you'll want to determine the maximum house price you can afford. Even though you're pre-approved for a set loan amount, it doesn't mean you can afford it. You'll want to factor in other expenses, including retirement and college savings, vacations, and home maintenance and repairs, when you calculate how much you can afford for a monthly payment. And don't forget to budget for homeowners insurance and property taxes. There's also homeowner's assocation fees, especially in newer developments.

Next, differentiate your needs versus your wants. You need three bedrooms, but a fourth room would be nice for a play room or guest room. You need a two-car garage, but a larger one would be nice for storage. You need a functional kitchen but want hardwood floors. You need two bathrooms but want a luxurious master suite. You get the picture.

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Amazingly Colorful Homes

John Giuffo, Contributor

 1/24/2012 @ 1:02PM 

We may remember them through a sepia-toned lens, but the Victorians loved their color. In fact, many of the intricately-restored Victorian-era homes found around the country are clad in eye-catching colors.
Take the multi-toned Armour-Stiner Octagon House in Irvington, New York, for example. Built in 1872 for a tea merchant who wanted the building to resemble a teapot, it is the only house in the world with an octagonal-domed roof, according to Elizabeth Pomada, co-author of five books on Victorian homes called Painted Ladies. “It was meant to amuse,” says Pomada. “It was meant to be a vacation home, there are whimsical touches all over.” Now owned by an architect and preservationist, the home has been fully restored to its original appearance, including painstaking matches of the original color scheme, which included 10 colors in 27 shades.

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Home buying could soon beat renting

By John W. Schoen, Senior Producer

 

Falling home prices have sent many would-be buyers to the sidelines. If all goes well, record low interest rates and rising rents may soon prompt some of them to take a second look at buying.

Unfortunately, that's a big "if," according to Paul Diggle, a housing economist at Capital Economics.
Much of the decision to buy a house still depends on your personal finances and preferences, your career or family life, or level of financial security.

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